MDI clone/Tech2Win/low speed GMLAN questions

[cobra30689]

I may have asked this question once before, but I'm wondering if anyone has figured out WHY this happens.

I have an MDI clone that works great under T2W for my older VPW vehicles, and even under Toyota Techstream for my one Toyota (pin 1 is not used). I have one newer GM vehicle that, while modules on the high speed GMLAN bus can been seen by T2W, it cannot communicate with any module on the pin1, low speed GMLAN bus. I have accepted this and purchased an OBDXPro GT. Fixes that issue

My question is this.....would the same happen with a NEWER vehicle that requires GDS2? Is it an issue with the D-PDU protocol that T2W uses that causes the problem, or the MDI hardware/firmware itself? I don't have a newer vehicle to test, just curious if anyone else has bumped into this and has researched the root cause.

[ironduke]

likely the mdi internally is at fault. I had one as well where pin 1 was dead. Other than that I have 4 clones currently that work fine with pin 1 communication with tech2win,gds2,sps2,dbdt, etc..
As I understand it though gm is blocking techline accounts for those who are using clone mdi's.. My mdi's have different serial numbers now so hopefully that keeps me out of their radar..

[cobra30689]

I will say this about the clone....

I bought one of those Amazon Mini-VCI XHorse clones to use on the Toyota, and was just going to throw the MDI in a drawer as I now have the OBDXPro for the GM's. NOPE! That MDI SMOKES the Amazon clone as far as comm speed. The Amazon VCI takes 2-3 times longer to access modules, and often crashed Techstream while pulling live data. The MDI works flawlessly.

[beeradoc]

Some of the mdi clones are just a vxdiag in an mdi case, and the vxdiag does not seem to work with anything that requires pin1 comms. I found this out the hard way

[antus]

I saw one of those back in 2013. Did they ever get better than this? The one I saw didnt use MDI drivers on the PC so it was pretty obvious to the user. In fact, the one in the picture here didnt work at all.

[ironduke]

I saw one of those back in 2013. Did they ever get better than this? The one I saw didnt use MDI drivers on the PC so it was pretty obvious to the user. In fact, the one in the picture here didnt work at all.

I have one of those!!!! lmao.. I do not use it, but I still have it.. It recognizes itself as a vcx nano and it's practically useless. I have used it to try and test my code with a vcx nano, They can write somewhat ok but they suck at reading, so damn slow!!! Even writing I have to send tool present commands about 5x as often to keep it from exiting/resetting.

Yes, the mdi clones got a LOT better, I've bought 6 clones over the years, 2 have broken over the years but then again so has my genuine mdi.. One lost high speed on one pin, then it got worse when I let the magic smoke out, one I bought had no low speed communication but they refunded me so I kept it and eventually used parts from the other 2 and got it all working. They take updates just like the real ones but every one I have had has the flash laid out a little differently so it's harder to change the serial numbers than the genuine ones..

I'm in the market if they ever sell real MDI2 clones but it looks like Bosch is having them made in Germany and they're keeping the production locked down so nothing seems to be leaking out.. Just bought another MDI2 for $750 direct from bosch..

[cobra30689]

I saw one of those back in 2013. Did they ever get better than this? The one I saw didnt use MDI drivers on the PC so it was pretty obvious to the user. In fact, the one in the picture here didnt work at all.

I had mine apart, and it looks pretty damned close to a legit MDI. I believe the battery terminals are wired in (I hear most clones are not) but I haven't tried putting batteries in it.

[cobra30689]

Some of the mdi clones are just a vxdiag in an mdi case, and the vxdiag does not seem to work with anything that requires pin1 comms. I found this out the hard way

I had a VXDiag I bought second hand off EBay. THAT one actually worked for Pin1 comms (I reprogrammed a key fob on the gf's Saturn with it), but the license expired and I couldn't get it renewed, so in the trash it went and replaced with the MDI clone.

[beeradoc]

[/quote]

I had a VXDiag I bought second hand off EBay. THAT one actually worked for Pin1 comms (I reprogrammed a key fob on the gf's Saturn with it), but the license expired and I couldn't get it renewed, so in the trash it went and replaced with the MDI clone.

I only ever tried it on holden stuff, and it would not touch anything pin 1 with t2w. Also tried it with gds2 on some newer stuff and it would constantly disconnect even just reading data streams

[antus]

vxdiag had a clone problem, hence the license schemes. The legit ones worked as advertised, the early clones used old buggy firmware and couldn't be updated and didn't work properly.